Dad arrested after boy, 4, kills neighbor, 6

TOMS RIVER, N.J. -- The father of a 4-year-old boy who accidentally shot and killed his 6-year-old neighbor is grieving over the death of the child, his lawyer said Wednesday, lashing out at authorities for "grandstanding" by arresting the man without warning in front of his children.

"Mr. (Anthony) Senatore and his family are deeply sorrowed over the death of Brandon (Holt), and outside of the Holt family, no other person or family grieves more over the loss of Brandon," attorney Robert Ebberup said in a statement. "There is not one day that passes where my client does not feel the pain and sorrow over the loss of such a wonderful child."

The Toms River attorney the statement outside his office Wednesday morning. He did not take questions from the media, except to say that his client had waived his initial appearance in Municipal Court, which had been scheduled for Thursday.

Ebberup represents Senatore, 33, a construction contractor who was arrested Monday on five counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child and one third-degree count of the crime. He is also facing a charge of enabling access by minors to a loaded firearm.

Ebberup said his client has cooperated fully with law enforcement. In his statement, Ebberup questioned why his office was not contacted before his client was taken into custody and why Senatore was not simply allowed to turn himself in to authorities. Instead, he said, Senatore was arrested in front of his wife and children at dinner time Monday.

He said his client is devoted to his family, has deep roots in the community and has no criminal record.

"Given the circumstances of Mr. Senatore's arrest, and the extraordinary charges and bail imposed upon him, resulting in the media attention that is now upon this case, one can only surmise that the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office has decided to engage in grandstanding the case against my client," he said. "Such an attempt to try this case in the media is inappropriate and unfair to my client."

The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office is handling the investigation, because the Senatore family has ties to law enforcement in Ocean County.

On April 8, Senatore's 4-year-old son took a loaded .22-caliber rifle from a bedroom in the family's home in Toms River, authorities said. The child brought the gun outside and fired one shot, hitting 6-year-old Brandon in the head, authorities said.

Brandon was rushed to the hospital, where he died the next day.

Authorities say that in addition to the rifle, police found four unsecured shotguns in Senatore's home. Authorities said those guns were stored near ammunition and were accessible to all three of Senatore's children, ages 12, 8 and 4.

The Prosecutor's Office could not be reached for comment.

Ebberup said he and his client have faith in the criminal justice system and were confident there would be a just result.

"On behalf of my client and his family, I wish to extend our deepest sympathy and heartfelt sorrow to the Holt family," he said. "While we did not know him in life, we have come to learn how amazing little Brandon was. He will be missed by all those who knew him for a very long time. But he will be deeply missed by his family until their last day on earth. He will be similarly missed by my client and his family."

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